On 13 August 1989, two

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

s collided near

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, Australia, causing one to crash to the ground, killing thirteen people. It was the world's deadliest ever ballooning disaster until February 2013, when a balloon accident near Luxor, Egypt killed 19 people. , it remains the deadliest ever ballooning accident in Australia, and the third-deadliest worldwide, surpassed only by the Egypt crash and a balloon accident in Texas in 2016 that claimed the lives of 16 people.

Accident

The flight took off at Santa Teresa Road, 29 kilometres south east of Alice Springs. The accident was the result of a mid-air collision at 6:38 am, local time. One balloon ascended, colliding with another balloon above it. The

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sh ...

of the lower balloon engulfed the basket of the upper balloon, causing a tear in the envelope. The lower balloon hovered briefly, before rapidly deflating and plunging to the ground at high speed, killing its pilot and all twelve passengers. One body was reportedly thrown clear of the basket. The pilot had turned off the gas burners before impact. The male pilot and ten of the passengers were Australian. Six of the passengers were male and six female. One male passenger was

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

and another male passenger was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

who lived in Monaco. All of the passengers were adults. The descent reportedly lasted 51 seconds. Witness statements said the balloon "folded and fell to earth" and that it "fell to the ground like a streamer". A tourist in another balloon said, The tear in the stricken balloon's red and black envelope was described as being the size of a bed sheet, and the balloon crashed between two small trees in open scrubland about 16 kilometres from

Alice Springs Airport Alice Springs Airport is an Australian regional airport south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The airport was notably involved in Australia's first domestic airline hijacking, and later a suicide attack by a former airline employee wh ...

. Another news report said that ten bodies, arms interlinked, were found in the balloon's gondola. Three others were nearby in the sand, having apparently been ejected. Four balloons were in the air at the time of the accident. The pilot of one of the other balloons had made a radio call to alert the emergency services. Passengers of the other balloons were treated in hospital for shock on their return to Alice Springs.

Investigation

The

Bureau of Air Safety Investigation The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's national transport safety investigator. The ATSB is the federal government body responsible for investigating transport-related accidents and incidents within Australia. It covers air ...

(BASI) found that the operator of the upper balloon, the operator of the ballooning company to which both balloons belonged, had failed to give way to the lower balloon as required by the company's operations manual. The investigation report said that the upper balloon was found to be missing the mandatory instrument package and that its pilot had refused to cooperate with investigators. Both balloons were fitted with

ultra high frequency Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequency, radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one ten ...

radios operating on the same channel, but neither pilot contacted the other. The investigation found also that the pilot of the lower balloon, which crashed, had failed to properly assess the position of the upper balloon before ascending in close proximity to it. The investigation reported that the balloon plunged 2000 feet. The report said safety measures flowing from its investigation were now being implemented and that the Civil Aviation Authority should improve surveillance.

Aftermath

In 1992, the

Northern Territory Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory is the superior court for the Australian Territory of the Northern Territory. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. It is aro ...

sentenced the pilot of the upper balloon, Michael Sanby, to two years' jail, with an eight-month non-parole period, after an eight-man, four-woman jury had found him guilty of committing a dangerous act. He was found not guilty on 13 charges of manslaughter. The charge of committing a "dangerous act" was reported at the time as being unique to the Northern Territory. The judge found that the pilot had "failed to keep a proper lookout for a period of 30 seconds (during which the other balloon was hidden from view) and that the failure seriously endangered the lives of those below". During his 13-week trial, the court was told that Sanby had outlaid about $1 million of borrowed money to get into the new commercial hot-air ballooning industry, and that business at Toddy's Safari Ballooning was booming. Sanby's conviction was subsequently overturned on appeal. Sanby was imprisoned for five years for fraud connected to a separate business endeavour, in the District Court of

Gympie, Queensland Gympie ( ) is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The l ...

, in August 2014.

References

External links

* – ATSB official report into the incident. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alice Springs Hot Air Balloon Crash 1989 in Australia Aviation accidents and incidents in 1989 Aviation accidents and incidents in the Northern Territory Alice Springs Disasters in the Northern Territory Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships Mid-air collisions 1980s in the Northern Territory August 1989 events in Australia Tourism in the Northern Territory 1989 disasters in Australia

Accident

Investigation

Aftermath

See also

References

External links